Sacramento�Hunger strikes continue in prisonsthroughout California to demand more humaneconditions, and supporters are rallying inSacramento to maintain pressure on the CaliforniaDepartment of Corrections and Rehabilitation(CDCR). While hunger strikers at Pelican Bay havedeclared a victory, prisoners in Corcoran,Calipatria and Tehachapi prisons continue torefuse food until their demands are met.

"We are rallying today to show that the publicstill supports the continued hunger strikers,"says Lisa Marie Alatorre, Campaign Director forCritical Resistance, a member of CaliforniansUnited for a Responsible Budget (CURB). CURB is acoalition of over 60 organizations that work toreduce the state's prison budget and the numberof people locked up in California prisons, one ofseveral groups who organized the rally. "We areinspired by the victory at Pelican Bay, but thefight is not over. There are people across thecountry who will continue organizing until CDCRmeets the demands of the continuing hunger strikers."

Family members of strikers, advocates, andorganizations from across California will bejoining CURB at the CDCR headquarters for therally, which will include a march to GovernorBrown's office and delivery of a signed letterurging the Governor to intervene in thenegotiations and ensure the hunger strike demands are met.

Prisoners in the Corcoran Secure Housing Units,and those who face long-term solitary confinementin Tehachapi and Calipatria prisons, are carryingon the hunger strike started on July 1st byprisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison. The strikequickly expanded to approximately 6,600 people ina third of California's prisons. It receivedbroad international support - organizations andindividuals held demonstrations throughout theUS, in Canada, and in Australia, and flooded CDCRheadquarters and Governor Jerry Brown's officewith demands for negotiation. Strikers wonseveral concessions from the CDCR and promptedCalifornia lawmakers to initiate hearings onconditions in the SHU, including the practice oflong-term solitary confinement. The CDCR alsocommitted to holding similar hearings, but has yet to schedule them.

"Action is more important than ever. The CDCRmust not only meet the strike demands, it mustfollow-through on promises made to the PelicanBay prisoners, and there is no clear plan for howit will do that," explains Prisoner Hunger StrikeSolidarity member Manuel La Fontaine. Anotherwave of rallies are being planned across thecountry, including Ohio and New York.

The CDCR has come under increased pressure in thepast months as public opinion polls show wideningsupport for reforms to California's massiveprison system. The Supreme Court recently orderedthe CDCR to reduce the number of peopleincarcerated because it has consistently beenunable to deliver basic medical care to all prisoners.

"We are seeing over and over the same message tothe CDCR, whether it is the hunger strikes,opinion polls or the Supreme Court decision: theatrocious conditions and policies withinCalifornia prisons must end, and the place tostart is by meeting hunger strike demands," says Alatorre.

Break the Chains.info

is a news and discussion forum for supporters of political prisoners, prisoners of war, politicized social prisoners, and victims of police and state intimidation.

This blog is organized and updated autonomously of the disbanded Break the Chains Prisoner Support Network formerly based in Eugene, Oregon. While this online project shares several of the same concerns as the old Break the Chains collective, no formal organization exists behind the current web presence.

"I will never surrender my pride and dignity nor allow the system to 'cut my tongue' and I will always, without fear, speak out against these war crimes and crimes against humanity, no matter if I spend the rest of my life in a prison cage, and draw my last breath of air laying down in this steel bed surrounded by razor-wire fences and cages, and its prison policies that are designed to destroy one's humanity…."